Conference Service Mandl

abstract: In the slightly more than two decades that have elapsed since the fields of Symplectic and Contact Topology were created, the field has grown enormously and unforeseen new connections within Mathematics and Physics have been found. The goals of the 2009-10 program at MSRI are to: I. Promote the cross-pollination of ideas between different areas of symplectic and contact geometry; II. Help assess and formulate the main outstanding fundamental problems and directions in the field; III. Lead to new breakthroughs and solutions of some of the main problems in the area; IV. Discover new applications of symplectic and contact geometry in mathematics and physics; V. Educate a new generation of young mathematicians, giving them a broader view of the subject and the capability to employ techniques from different areas in their research.

abstract: The Mathematics Department at the University of Texas – Pan American will host an NSF/CBMS regional research conference on Nonlinear Water Waves with Applications to Wave-Current Interactions and Tsunamis during the week of May 17-21, 2010. The principal speaker will be Professor Adrian Constantin, Chair of Partial Differential Equations at the University of Vienna, Austria. Additional invited lectures will also be featured by other leading experts, including Professors J. Bona, A. Degasperis, J. Escher, A. S. Fokas, R. Johnson, W. Strauss, J. F. Toland, E. Varvaruca, and possibly others. Participation is open to scientists working at research level on theoretical and practical aspects of the conference’s topic. Some limited support is available for travel and local expenses. Underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

abstract: Enhanced mixing and transport properties are distinguishing characteristics of both turbulent and more structured complex flows. The concepts of eddy diffusion and eddy viscosity, for example, were introduced as attempts to 'parameterize' these effects to produce reduced models for theoretical analysis and simulations. At the same time turbulent mixing and transport is the focus of significant attention from a fundamental point of view, based in some cases on the Navier-Stokes equations and in other cases on models or special flows amenable to more thorough analytical investigations. This workshop is concerned with modern mathematical approaches to the study of transport and mixing in turbulence and other complex flows, including transitional flows with significant attention to applications from the applied sciences, predominantly geophysics.

abstract: The Mathematics Department at the University of Texas – Pan American will host an NSF/CBMS regional research conference on Nonlinear Water Waves with Applications to Wave-Current Interactions and Tsunamis during the week of May 17-21, 2010. The principal speaker will be Professor Adrian Constantin, Chair of Partial Differential Equations at the University of Vienna, Austria. Additional invited lectures will also be featured by other leading experts, including Professors J. Bona, A. Degasperis, J. Escher, A. S. Fokas, R. Johnson, W. Strauss, J. F. Toland, E. Varvaruca, and possibly others. Participation is open to scientists working at research level on theoretical and practical aspects of the conference’s topic. Some limited support is available for travel and local expenses. Underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

abstract: Natural locomotion in fluids includes the swimming of fish and microorganisms and the flying of birds and insects. Other creatures employ similar movements on solid and fluid surfaces, e.g., snails, snakes, and water striders. Nature has exploited the complex fluid dynamics of time-dependent three-dimensional flows over a wide range of Reynolds numbers to evolve a variety of interesting mechanisms of locomotion. This workshop will focus on the mechanics of these behaviors and the current state of theoretical and experimental work in the field. The scope will cover the dynamics from low to high Reynolds numbers, emphasizing the links between the fluid dynamics and the nature of the evolved mechanisms. The inclusion of movement over solid and fluid surfaces introduces new phenomena involving surface stresses and complex fluid layers.

abstract: Michigan State University will be the host of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) Summer Graduate Program in Mathematics. The course will concentrate on Computational Wave Propagation. The program will focus on presenting some of the fundamental concepts and techniques currently used in computational wave propagation and related applications. It will provide a unique and timely synthesis of disciplines which will better position graduate students as future researchers for the next step to work on computational wave propagation.

abstract: Conservation Laws (or balance laws) are systems of partial differential equations which arise naturally as models for a variety of physical phenomena (e.g., fluid dynamics, magneto-hydrodynamics, combustion, oil recovery, and nonlinear elasticity). The primary focus of this summer program will be on recent developments in our understanding of such equations. Beginning with a rapid tutorial phase, the aim of the program will be to expose participants to current areas of active research and to help prepare them to pursue open problems in the field. The program will touch on both theoretical and computational aspects of conservation laws, and application areas (old and new) in which conservation laws play a central role will be highlighted.

abstract: The conference will focus on research in mathematical fluid dynamics, spanning areas from rigorous analysis of nonlinear partial differential equations to numerical analysis and modeling of related physical systems. This includes: (1) Analysis of PDEs for fluid dynamics: rigorous results for regularity, existence, uniqueness for Navier-Stokes and Euler, problems with free-surfaces and surface tension, convergence of vortex methods and splitting methods, (2) Fluid motion driven by interfaces: computational methods and analysis of problems with moving interfaces and (3) Computational methods for fluid dynamics. Thomas Beale has made important contributions to many problems in these areas.The conference will feature talks by a list of invited speakers and an extended poster session for contributed research presentations by conference participants.

abstract: The goal of this program is to showcase the many remarkable developments that have taken place in the past decade in Random Matrix Theory (RMT) and to spur on further developments on RMT and the related areas Interacting Particle Systems (IPS) and Integrable Systems (IS): IPS provides an arena in which RMT behavior is frequently observed, and IS provides tools which are often useful in analyzing RMT and IPS/RMT behavior.

abstract: Inverse Problems are problems where causes for a desired or an observed effect are to be determined. They lie at the heart of scientific inquiry and technological development. Applications include a number of medical as well as other imaging techniques, location of oil and mineral deposits in the earth's substructure, creation of astrophysical images from telescope data, finding cracks and interfaces within materials, shape optimization, model identification in growth processes and, more recently, modelling in the life sciences. During the last 10 yeas or so there has been significant developments both in the mathematical theory and applications of inverse problems. The purpose of the program would be to bring together people working on different aspects of the field, to appraise the current status of development and to encourage interaction between mathematicians and scientists and engineers working directly with the applications.

abstract: This program aims at the study of various topics within the area of Free Boundaries Problems, from the viewpoints of theory and applications. Many problems in physics, industry, finance, biology, and other areas can be described by partial differential equations that exhibit apriori unknown sets, such as interfaces, moving boundaries, shocks, etc. The study of such sets, also known as free boundaries, often occupies a central position in such problems. The aim of this program is to gather experts in the field with knowledge of various applied and theoretical aspects of free boundary problems.